April 11, 2012

Like mama sheep all over the world these days I'm in the throes of the birthing process. Instead of lambkins though what I'm delivering is a project, straight from my heart that I can't wait to share with you;

Because of my full immersion into this project these days I'm noticing I'm getting a little time greedy. For example when Craig announced he was going to take our kids climbing with friends Warren and Margo after Easter brunch eating my first thought wasn't how wonderful it would be to commune together as a family with beloved friends in the activity that tricked Craig into proposing marraige to me on top of a Spanish mountain. Oh, no, no. My first thought was:

Ooooo... imagine how much work I can get done in a nice, quiet, empty house.

But there was my inner voice, and of course that outer voice called Craig's, both of them saying sarcastically;

But still, for some reason I couldn't decided. So I did what I do when I'm grumpy and indecisive; I pouted.

Edie, the littlest genius with a keen eye for not so subtle body language, saw the pout and suggested a compromise. "Come for just a bit".

So I did.

And I ended up staying for longer than expected and just drank in the fun, the rays of Vitamin D and the sweetness epitomized in the face of a sun bathing puppy.

Thanks to Craig, and that flower-scented, crazy-making thin Spanish air that flung him into my arms, for bringing back into my radar the values we have hoped, all those many moons ago, would guide us to our idyllic family life.

Values like:

connecting with nature

adventure having

nurturing our friendships

embracing leisure

And this will be the juicy middle of the ecourse. Juicy stuff like tapping into our core family values that were so alive in us once, in less complicated times (ie before the lambkins were born) that perhaps need to be gently nudged back out into the sunshine. Even for just a little bit.

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Why not bring up the subject of values with your partner or co-parent? Try out writing separately the top three values you hope to pass on to your kids and then see how they match up. Maybe share yours or theirs or both down in the comment below if you feel so inspired!

April 02, 2012

We couldn't have hoped for a sweeter pup than little Mr Angel but I have to admit we are in the midst of an adjustment period. People aren't joking when they say it's like having a newborn; you know with all the getting up in the middle of the night and having to be aware of his whereabouts at all times.

This too shall pass but until then I'm applying my handy dandy Simplicity Parenting principles and utilizing too the Kaizen Muse creativity coaching tools I'm honing through my coaching certification process. Until then, I'm building much character and we're all falling in love fast with a little pudgy puppy and the sweet role he's slipping into in our family.

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To help you dive deeper into the Simplicity Parenting realm I'm excited to announce that sign ups for my Simplicity Parenting ecourse are just around the corner!!! Be sure to sign up for my Mama Bliss E-zine today to stay on top of the latest developments of this exciting opportunity to grow your simplifying and parenting love muscles!

March 08, 2012

Parenting can take on many, glorious forms of crazed behaviours. A big part of what makes these the peak cute years is seeing the kids act out how they're going to be passing on all the sweet, some of the not so sweet, but all of it coming from a place of love, parenting styles. The cast members taking on the role of my future grandchildren include the dolls I made for the kids over the years (complete with rose quartz hearts):

Doll play happens here in spurts and bouts. Until it's their time to shine in their starring roles they can be found kicking back in their king sized cradle for a few weeks, eating bon bons of course acting a little on the diva size (even Mickey). But then they bust out, usually close to the full moon I've been noticing, sighted once again being lovingly cargo-ed around the house in slings built out of silks and the occasional bungee cord. This time when the wool stuffed crew came out to play, Edie and Kale fashioned a car out of the ottoman and piles of pillows and safely secured their stuffy spawn into their car seats.

In Simplicity Parenting, Kim Payne writes about differnt parenting styles that one may recognize in oneself from time to time. It's a fun part of the workshops I lead bringing awareness to participants of what styles may be lurking from within. Here's my host of characters all squished in me:

The Helicopter: Wacka, wacka, wacka, wacka

The Sportscaster: You're taking a teeny bite of your sausage and you're chewing it so good! Chew, chew, chew. Swallowing. Careful, careful. Yay! You swallowed your sausage! (*note there is a sprinkle of The Cheerleader thrown in there for good measure)

The Clown: Who's a funny mommy? Squeeze Mama's red detachable nose. It honks! Yes! (*note the splash of The Sportscaster for dramatic effect)

The Body Guard: Coming out of the public washroom after washing our hands before we eat ~ Do not touch anything! (they look like little doctors enroute to surgery ~ adorable!)

The Buddy-buddy: Let's, like, totally wear matching outfits to the restaurant tonight. It will be, like, so cute!

The Flip-flop: Absoltely you are not having a snack right now; supper's ready in half an hour. That's why you have to eat more lunch. Nope, no way Jose. Nice try. Mama said no. (30 seconds later) Who wants cheese and craaaaackers!? (sang whilst pouring myself a glass of wine)

Lavender was fussing so Edie decided she should crawl back and be there with the kids for the rest of the trip (is it just me or do you hear a far off 'whacka whacka'?). So much fun to imagine them loving real life kids of their own one day and to guess which bits of Craig and my various styles they're going to carry on or pick up all on their own.

One of the best indicators has been happening often these days as they have been visiting more with one of their favorite real life friends. And going by that observation (The Detective), the future world of parenting is in good, loving hands. So... what's your style(s) of parenting that crop up from time to time?

March 05, 2012

Not to jinx us or anything but I'm certain that we've experienced the last of the heavy snowfalls of the year. I'm usually pretty conservative about my timing around uttering this statement (having been raised in a city that is known for freak May snow blizzards) but I have that twitchiness that's pretty dialed in with the Farmer's Almanac that gives me this compulsion to want to shove all our belongings (saving the pretties or the usefuls) into cardboard boxes to be appreciated by someone else, in another home, far, far away, and to help bring a sense of space and order to our great indoors before moving my energies and focus to the great outdoors.

Here in today's vlog entry I share how I've been using the smallest of steps of to ease myself into the mindset of what can feel like an enormous task. It need not be all encompassing - it can even be fun! And how I'm planning on cranking up the fun factor an extra few notches is by joining in on Goddess Leonie's six week Goddess Haven space clearing and decluttering ecourse that you can purchase here (I'm an Ambassador, yo, so I get a bit of a commission if you sign up but I'm just such a fan of hers and her offerings that I can't imagine you won't be too, not to mention this course rocks!).

I'll be plugging away at this throughout the rest of the spring so if you want to play along I'll be showing you my before and afters if you show me yours ;) Leonie, or no Leonie, how does your spring cleaning glow?

February 29, 2012

Tonight I'm leading an introductory Simplicity Parenting workshop in town and was contemplating how I was going to share my most uncomplicated journey - ha! Where did this parenting business begin? Let's start at the very beginning... at that couple's yoga workshop in 2003. There we were in partner-assisted elephant's trunk pose... Or how about I just fast forward to my pregnancy stint with Edie?

Hanging out with a friend when I was pregnant with Edie she mentioned something that made my pregancy-enhanced bionic hearing ears perk up: I take the lazy mama approach to parenting. Intrigued I asked her to tell me more for as you can see by my ragamuffin appearance in that picture up there, even brushing my hair back then cut into my slack lining time.

Through this friend I was exposed to the world of home birth (no need to get off my lazy soon-to-be mama butt to drive to the hospital), co-sleeping (no need to lug out of bed to check in on munchkin throughout the night), and extended breastfeeding (so much easier just to pop out the boob!); you know, classic attachment parenting fodder.

Funny enough those two words, lazy and approach, were what attracted Craig and I to the concept of permaculture where one works with nature to grow food by maximizing output with zero waste and minimal labour. You use plants and animals to do the work for you. Simplicity Parenting is kind of like permaculture. Instead of chickens though you have children.

Attachment parenting served well in helping me get much sleep and couch time as I slipped into my new role of Mama but then four years later when Kale was born there were some other principles I embraced that helped the transition from being a mama of one, to being a mama to two.

It took me some time but by then I started becoming aware of how we all thrived with keeping the toys, kid stuff and general clutter down to a mimimum at our home. Intuitively, the lazy mama in me realized that less stuff equals less of an investment in time and energy to tidy up at the end of the day.

Through trial and error the whole family thrived with a distinct rhythm to the day. This spoke my lazy mama language by releasing me from the mental energy of deciding what to do and when and was an effective means at keeping meltdowns to a minimum. Same applied with minimizing, and mostly eliminating screen time for the kids.

And then when Kale was born it become imperative that we keep close to home as much as possible, so I we kept our scheduling commitments to a minimum. We literally stayed home for forty plus days as we wallowed in the vibe of a fresh baby in the house and kept the environment as peaceful and rhtymic as possible; allowing Kale's own internal rhythmic pulse to settle to a strong, steady beat and for Edie's into this special status of being a big sister.

Though a neighbour confided in Craig that in his opinion it 'wasn't right' that I didn't want to leave the property for that long, it felt right and that, in a nutshell, is my interpretation of the premise behind Simplicity Parenting and what I hope this series will reawaken in the parents participating.

On that note, later this month I will be sharing with you my plans on bringing this workshop offering to you! So you can take it from the comforts of your own home, in your pajamas, eating bon bons on your couch...

February 20, 2012

During my simplicity parenting workshop this weekend we were exploring our personal parenting style. Parenting styles can morph with time, experience, life. For instance, with Edie we were way less structured and super attached as in she went where we went, stayed up as late as we did, slept in until whenever. With Kale, now that I think about it, our approach has taken a complete 180. So much so at times it feels our days have a tinge of the Groundhog Day effect (the Bill Murray movie from the nineties; not being easily spooked by our shadows).

When Craig asked me what I got up to while he was away all week all that really stood out was make breakfast, clean up, make lunch, clean up, make dinner, clean up and get the kids in bed. Of course there were in between highlights but that there is the heartbeat of our lives together and I love it and, to be honest, in some aspects was what I clung to to keep from losing it while Craig was gone.

But what I especially love in our daily rhythm is getting to hang out with Craig once the kids are tucked in, safe at sound, lights out at 8:00 (I am striving to ease this more toward seven so we can enjoy even more hang out time. Mama gets sleepy by 9:00 these days!).

I was hoping to capture a rich exchange between Craig and I about this special time in our lives but he says doesn't want to 'be in the cloud' (paranoia will destroya I told him), so instead I had to play his role. Again.

What do you do once the kids are in bed? If you simply pass out like I used to, do you have another time for connection with your partner?

February 18, 2012

Craig has been away for work all week long and last night he arrived home, safe, sound and so deliriously tired he couldn't stop hugging me. Luckily he doesn't have to go away too often but when he has to I'm noticing this time alone on the farm with two kids seems like it takes less sweat. Mabye because the munchkins are getting a bit older? Or Mama's getting hardier (strong like ox style)?

Before Craig's coming home, I was determined to do something terribly not in my Mama nature. Something fun. Like Dada-style fun. Sure, I win the fun crown in events like puppet shows and family break dance circles but in terms of sporty flavoured pursuits he wins, hands down, each time. So I bit the bullet and told the kids "we're going skiing together" and after the immediate chorus of "yay's" I discovered another tool for any lazy mama emergencies - say it out loud then there's no going back.

Edie is a spectacular cross country skier these days. She not only keeps up but surpasses me. Sometimes so far I have to holler for her to wait up at times (mind you I had the impediment of Kale's sled strapped to my belly. With all them hand knit layers he's one heavy little lug). While skiing I was thinking about this pace we were taking; me slowed down by Kale's layers, stopping to take pictures, Kale hucking himself off the sled to point at rocks (look at that rock, with snow on it. No, that one!) and pondering how at this age this is the way to go. This is the cadence they need to wholly digest the world around them.

Right before this little adventure I finished wrapping up the preparation for my Saturday morning simplicity parenting session number six - Filtering Out. It was fresh in my brains the concept of how at this tender age to not only be mindful of the impression that media leaves but how easily all the stimuli around accumulates and how careful we need to be to ensure that our kids remain comfortable in their environment to really relax into their authentic, quirky selves.

One of the suggestions in this chapter that I was particularly taking into consideration on this outing was "the more you say, the less you are listening". I tried to not say too much and instead just kept it to what was "true, kind, necessary".

"Please don't fall into the river" was the phrase that seemed to be the only optly necessary a few times as snowball hucking became the fun time activity of choice. Other than that, noone said more than a few words this whole escapade. It was magic. Golden Moment even.

And, speaking of Fun Mum, here are the next two pit stops for the Bliss Filled Mama Blog tour you can visit and enter to win a copy of my fresh off the paperless presses: Homespun Waldorf and Sistermama Gets Real . Thank you to Sarah for hosting both of these stops today. I am at a loss for words.

And that ends our official week of blog tour but there are still a few interested mamas that are excited to share the gospel of Mama bliss with their readers. I will be sharing these upcoming posts and any further giveaways in the weeks to come. Have a great, blissful weekend!

January 30, 2012

Edited to add: I forgot to mention I have a guest post over at Homespun Waldorf today! I'm participating in the Winter Carnival this month. There will be much seasonal radiance going over there as many Waldorf-inspired mamas share their winter celebrations and insights over the month of February.

Also, I'm going to announce the winner of the ebook copy tomorrow morning instead of today. I just want to make sure my newsletter subscribers are in on the contest entering fun :)

You might notice a split second at the end of the video where you can faintly hear the little wheels in my head turning. I remember now the second my mama anetdote I wanted to share:

The first time my mom met Edie was when she was a month old - right at the prime of her nighttime fusiness. Craig and I were like: "so.... what are you suppose to do when this happens?"

My mom grabbed Edie and started walking around with her and lo and behold, Edie settled impressively quick. "Kahhhh-tee (imagine me doing my mom impression), babies are like horses. They can smell your fear".

So that kind of nicely ties up the whole cow/puppy/kid/gentle disciplining/fear smelling flavour of the vlog entry for this week. Enjoy!

January 23, 2012

My baby's got the fever! My favourite chapter from Simplicty Parenting has to be this one. Keeping the little ones held close and quiet when the fever erupts seems to help sooth this particular growing pain (adults get these too by the way). Like a physical fever, when it passes, if you look close enough you can see traces of growth spurt spurted.

There is a parralel between tranistions and more bouts of soul fever. I can see that at work here.

December 19, 2011

I hope you're holiday planning is going along swimmingly. Normally I'm on top of things in the Christmas countdown but this year I kind of lost count. Here I like to blame this on my new daytimer. It's all the Planner Pad's fault!

Want to share your self talk or tips on how you cope with any holiday freak out moments?